Learn about Flowscapes
Flowscapes are for getting unstuck.
They are maps of your perception about a situation.
Learn how to identify and then break free from the loops and dominant ideas that limit your thinking. Use this change in perception to create alternatives.
Watch the video (5 mins)
Read the summary (3 mins)
Read the $1bn problem (4 mins)
Create your own (15 mins) you will be invited to login and then select a free trial.
Optional for advanced users:
buy, read and then use the flowscapes pocketbook (1 hour)
1. Introductory video
2. How flowscapes are useful
Our minds have a preference for patterns of information that we have experienced before; information that we are expecting. This is what is meant by “we see what we want to see”. When we think about a situation we don’t give equal weighting to all factors. Our attention is biased towards certain factors more than others. The flowscape provides a map of this. The benefit of creating a flowscape is that it gives a structured way of deliberately shifting attention. Flowscapes help to identify what is dominating your thinking and where to seek alternatives.
Dominating ideas and concepts
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Dominating ideas are indicated by the connector point with the highest number of inputs.
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Flowscapes will contain at least one loop, where the elements of the flowscape connect. This is “stable” because the pattern repeats, not because of the quality of the ideas. The elements of the loops are often aspects of the same concept and can also dominate the thinking.
More than one right answer
Dominant ideas and loops may represent “good” ideas or the "usual" solution. The point is not whether they are right or wrong but that they squander our attention. It is unlikely that the loop or dominant idea in the situation you are thinking about is the only way of thinking about this situation. It is often the case that there is more than one right answer. The problem with dominant ideas and loops is that they block the exploration of alternatives.
Alternatives
Having identified the dominant idea and loop, you can seek alternatives.
(1) This may be in the less prominent parts of the flowscape, the elements in the flowscape which have few connections. How does your thinking about the situation change if you gave this element more attention? Where would this lead your thinking?
(2) Identify the concept behind the dominating idea or loop. What other ways are there of realising this concept? What alternative concepts are there?